James and Julia's Fertility Story

Posted on 3rd July 2018 at 22:14

Are you considering natural fertiltiy support? Perhaps James and Julia's story can give you hope.

Concieving a baby wasn't easy as 123...

You can see their story in their own words on my fertility page but it wasn't plain sailing. Initially there were imbalances in Julias hormones though luckily James had what his specialist referrs to as "super sperm".

Not every couple has the same problems, sometimes it's his sperm, sometimes it's a hormonal problem for both of them and sometimes it's all down to her but research shows that male factor infertility affects 30-40% of infertile couples and around 25% of those cases are unexplained.

As it happens around 3 months after we first started working together Julia concieved and they were over the moon. They took their pregnancy test on holiday and i received a joyful message with photographs of three positive tests. I was so pleased for them but at 6 weeks Julia started to bleed and the hospital confirmed that the baby had died. A miscarriage is a terrible thing for a couple to go through but as many as 31% of pregnancies spontaneously terminate and really we only know this now that pregnancy can be identified so early. As many as 75 fertilised eggs never make it to implantation.

We worked together to help them through the loss and to help Julia regain her health and hormonal balance but it took a while for her to recover emotionally and physically from the loss.

Meet Margot!

Margot has the great good fortune to have parents who love her more than she will ever know. Here she is in her fresh daisy onesie.

I first met Julia over two and a half years ago when she contacted me via my facebook business page because she was feeling very unwell with what we now know was a chemical pregnancy, what doctors now call an early miscarriage.

They had been trying for some time and were sad and frustrated and starting to consider IVF. In-vitro Fertilisation is a blessing to many, many parents but for some the risk of the drugs and the invasive procedures are not something they want to go through.

Clomid, a drug that is used to stimulate ovulation, is linked with Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome. It has also been linked with ovarian cancer though a Cochrane review of the literature does not support that link. However Clomid and does not always result in a healthy pregnancy, in my experience many clomid pregnancies don't make it past 6 weeks.

So for some folk choosing to improve their overall health and take herbs and eat foods that optimise nutrition for healthy genetic material is the obvious choice. It certainly was for Julia and her partner James.

Herbal Medicine Works! They concieved.

When they had both recovered from their loss they started to try again. We worked together over the next year and in the new year they really felt ready. They decided to consider IVF

By this time their improved hormone status meant they were no longer elligable for IVF on the NHS but thankfully a few days after that they found that Julia was expecting. This picture shows them bringing Margot round to visit.

Their story shows that you too can have hope. And this time they took their baby daugther on her first seaside family holiday.

Menopausal Hot Flushes.

Posted on 27th June 2018 at 22:46

Hot flushes are one of the great mysteries of the menopause. We can't be sure if it's high oestrogen, (because in the early part of the perimenopause period oestrogen rises) Low oestrogen (because, lets be honest oestrogen production does go down eventually.) Raised levels of follicle stimulating hormone, often regarded as THE marker of menopause, or the general imbalance that happens before your body stabilises. Whatever the cause what can be done about it?.

How to Make an Herbal Salve.

Infographic showing how to create a herbal salve or ointment using the herbal infused oil made with the method from my last blog.

Making your own herbal salves is both rewarding and practical .

The idea from this one is to make an elder leaf infused oil which gives a satisfying deep green colour and works as an insect repellant, heals the skin and helps reduce irritation from bites you have already sustained.

It works on burns, bites, grazes, stings and all manner of irritating minor injuries and is worth having in any home medicine chest. You can choose oils that are appropriate for your family. I favour olive oil because unlike the nut oils virtually no-one is allergic to it. I tend to use shea butter as well as bees wax as it gives a nice texture.

Generally a ratio of 7 or 8 parts oil to 1 part wax will give you a satisfying texture that spreads easily but protects the skin.

Have fun but remember if you're doing this with children please make sure they realise the water in under the melting mixture is very hot.

Welcome to the new improved Website.!

Posted on 27th November 2017 at 15:51

It's been a long time coming.

When we started this everyone was wearing flip-flops and now even the trees aren't wearing their leaves.

My website has always been a labour of love but it came to the point where i needed something brighter, more modern and more professional to help share the work i love doing with my clients and let more people find the help they need.

I've had help from a lovely team of people.

Corrina Rothwell designed the beautiful pictures I use on social media and here on the website.

Jo Welch at Jo Welch Creative who took the lovely pictures and helped me feel more confident in front of a camera.

Wendy Walker at Ovy Design who designed the beautiful Nottingham Herbalist logo and who i turn to whenever i need professioal looking graphics

And Michele Walsh at dreambelieveattract.com i've learned so much about what is possible from her. And now i can share this with my own clients and patients.

Get in touch if you think i can help. More than anything i want you to feel happy and healthy, sort out what ails you or have the healthy family you dream of. I hope this lovely shiny new website helps you find the information you need to come and see me